Come Christmas and New Year, the best destination closer home that Tricity residents flock to is the Queen of Hills, Shimla. What would be more interesting than meandering your way through the hills on a train. The biggest attraction on the Kalka-Shimla railway track is the toy train. Six toy trains operate and take tourists from Kalka to Shimla and their demand goes up tremendously in the winter.
Though, there is no forecast about snowfall during Christmas these winters or even during New Year’s Eve, the toy train booking is full between December 24 and 27. After December 27, there is a waiting of 100 passengers to get a seat.
Two vista dome train compartments have been built at the Kapurthala Coach Factory KCF especially to be attached to the Shimla-Kalka toy train bogies. A trial for the same has been carried out between November 25 and December 6 which went quite smoothly. By February 2023, these two vista dome compartments (enhances the view, and provide additional comfort to the passengers) will become a regular feature.
Keeping the heavy flow of tourists in mind, two more special trains have been introduced. Though, between December 20 and January 1, only one special train has been made operational. However, if there is increased demand in the latter part of January this service may be extended.
Timings of the train:
3:30 am –- Passenger Toy Train
5:25 am — Rail Motor Car
5:45 am –- Shivalik Deluxe toy train
6:20 am –- Mail Express toy train
7:00 am – Vistadome Himdarshan Express
12:00 noon – Himalayan Queen toy train
1:05 pm – Holiday special train
The Kalka-Shimla train was flagged off for the first time on November 9, 1903 by the British and since then it has always enchanted visitors wanted to capture the scenic beauty of the hills.
